January Tournaments

WIndoors or Warwick Indoors is this weekend, it's where all of the Ultimate playing graduates of Warwick University reunite and play some indoors. In addition to all of the old Bears players they also invite along a couple of local teams to make up the numbers. For the first time in years, the Mexican Horse Bandits haven't entered, I think they have won it pretty much every year for the past every years! Bears 1 are looking pretty strong this year, and I'd be surprised if they didn't win it on their home turf. Expect Joke Paws to finish fourth, standard.

Next weekend is LUCRE or Lemmings Ultimate and Cancer REsearch (what is it with all these acronyms?!). That's held in Warwick, unlike Warwick Indoors, which is held in Coventry. Current Champions the Leamington Lemmings will have to be on top form to retain their crown. I think that nearby team uBu from Birmingham University have a great outside chance to win this one, although there will be stiff competition from (ex)Uriel and a young Bears team.

Great Barr Crawl is at the end of January, hosted in Birmingham (it's a busy month for Ultimate in the Midlands!). Bear Cavalry will fancy their chances of last years success and retaining their title, however, they'll have to watch out for Leroy the Mexican Turbo Snail, Arctic 1 and Stourbridge, who will all fancy their chances.

Keep up to date with Ultimate in the Midlands at THIS facebook group.

This post was mostly written whilst eating salted pretzels.

MWL3 Cancelled

Midlands Winter League 3 is cancelled due to frozen ground.

Good, I bloomin' hate WL, playing in the cold and sleet.

Instead I shall be mostly warming myself and relaxing.

This post was mostly written whilst listening to the Paolo Nutini album, which is surprisingly OK.

Midlands Winter League - Part II

Last Sunday (13th December) saw 8 midlands ultimate teams descent upon Nottingham for some rather chilly ultimate in the second of the Midlands Winter League events.

For those that don't know, Winter League isn't fun, in fact it's horrible, and pretty much only masochists agree to play, that and players who've been press-ganged into playing for their team as they were short on numbers (I fit into the latter of these two categories).

Things you'll need to endure a Winter League event...

A beanie to keep your head warm...

...a bin bag to keep your things dry...

...and something to keep your hands warm.

As it turned out, it stayed dry all day and was even sunny (although cold) for most of it! Can't quite remember how the first MWL turned out, but I think it saw Age Against The Machine beat EMO in the final, with uBu coming third and Flyght Club coming fourth; Arctic, Demons, Lemmings, Flux, Red and Haze made up the rest of the places (unsure of rankings! I may too have missed out someone).

So with the seedings from the first event being carried forward into this one, would we see another EMO / Age final, or would Flyght or uBu make an appearance, or indeed would one of the other teams cause an upset.

Early in the day Demon's pushed EMO close, losing to EMO by just one point. In Group C, with uBu and Lemmings both beating Arctic, it left a south-west midlands derby to decide the group winner. The two teams traded for few points, until Lemmings managed to cope better in the blustery conditions and pulled it away to win.

This set up Lemmings/Age and EMO/Flyght Semi-Finals. EMO managed to beat Flyght, whilst on the other pitch Lemmings pushed the masters team to the wire, with Age eventually using their experience, calling a time out and slotting away a sudden-death point to win 9-8.

This set up a re-run of last months final (anyone know the outcome?!).

Flyght Club took Bronze, beating Lemmings in the 3 Vs 4 match.

Here's to the next MWL in January, it's bound to hail/sleet/snow at one of them before long!

Props to the Nottingham crew for sorting out MWL, when no-one else could find a suitable venue.

Flyght Vs Lemmings in 3 Vs 4 Game

Only one thing is less fun than playing Winter League, and that's standing on the sidelines at Winter League getting cold.

Jess (Lemmings) beats Flyght Club player to Disc.

This post was mostly written whilst drinking hot blackcurrant cordial.

Thrillson's Throwabout 2009 Results

Saturday 5th December saw the first ever indoor xmas ultimate frisbee hat tournament to be hosted in Warwick. The festive themed tournament gave minced pies to every player and Christmas songs were blasted out over the PA system throughout the day.

After a whole days worth of games and as many renditions of Jona Lewie's 'Stop the Cavalry' as it's possible to endure, the tournament came down to the very final game. The winner of White Lightning or Little Saint Mick would be declared the winner. In a closely faught game, Little Saint Mick clawed their way back from being 6-4 down to win 9-8 which had all of the crowd on their feet.

Jon Risk, Captain of the winning team and all-round hero, said "It's amazing to win, I've been playing Ultimate for seven and a half years, and this is the first tournament I've ever won".

Full Results:

1st - Little Saint Mick

2nd - White Lightning

3rd - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

4th - Dark Side of the Spoon

5th - Golden Angels

6th - Blu Tack

Also, probs to the 'Red' team, Little Saint Mick, for best team name too.

More Hat Tournaments in Warwickshire to be announced soon.

This post was mostly written whilst listening to The Small Faces.

Lemmings Luau 2010

Just a quick heads up on the Lemmings Luau 2010, it'll be held on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th March at the Alan Higgs Centre in Coventry.

As usual, it'll be Beginners, Juniors and Women on the Saturday, with Open and Experienced teams on the Sunday.

Registration details will be announced shortly.

There's also a facebook group, if that's your thing.

This post was written whilst mostly listening to the new Idlewild album.

When I started playing Ultimate...

Following on from a conversation last night, whereby someone was shocked to learn that I started playing Ultimate after University, it led me to wonder when most people pick-up the sport.



I anticipate that the vast majority of players are exposed to it during their first year of University, quite possibly at the Freshers Sports Fayre. I reckon increasingly more people are being exposed to it at College and even at School, with some great teams rising through the ranks including Arctic from Sutton Coldfield and Airbadgers from Exeter.



So when did YOU start playing Ultimate? Fill in the poll on the left hand side of this page.

This page was mostly written whilst listening to the first Muse EP.

Donate a Disc...

Some of you may or may not know about the Lemmings Ultimate and Cancer REsearch or LUCRE annual fundraiser tournament I run each year. It's a one-day, indoor Ultimate tournament held in the Midlands. LUCRE 2009 raised £550 for Cancer Research UK, and the target for LUCRE 2010 in January is to raise even more than this.

A large proportion of the money raised comes from Team Entry Fees, but a significant amount comes from a raffle that we hold on the day. Last year companies donated gifts, which we then used as raffle prizes. All of the money from raffle tickets sold also went to Cancer Research.

This year we thought as this is one of only a few (the only one?) charity Ultimate tournaments, that you as the Ultimate community would like to contribute. Similar to previous requests on BritDisc, we're suggesting that clubs 'Donate a Disc' to the raffle. Your club will go up onto the LUCRE website and also get a thanks in the full-colour programme on the day, plus you'll all get a warm glow inside from doing some good. If individuals want to donate a disc (or jersey) that's fine too, all we ask is that it's new. There are more details 'here', just click on the 'Donate a Disc' link.

I'll be at most forthcoming tournaments, which I've listed below, just find me (Lucas, Lemmings #8) or any Lemmings player, and donate away. If you'd like to post a disc, please email me and I'll give you my address.

Thanks very much, Thrillson.
lucasthrillson (at) gmail (dot) com
http://www.lucretournament.co.uk/

Come and give your disc to me or a Lemming here...
Sat 31st Oct - Hat-oween, Lady Hat Tournament, Warwick
Sun 8th Nov - Midlands Winter League, Nottingham
21st/22nd Nov - Club Open Indoor Regionals, Birmingham
Sat 5th Dec - Thrillson's Throwabout, Warwick
Sun 13th Dec - Midlands Winter League, Nottingham
Sun 10th Jan - Midlands Winter League, Nottingham
16th/17th Jan - WIndoors, Warwick









Check out what a great job the charity does!
Cancer Research UK: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

One Hundred and Seventy Five Grams

We all know a disc weighs 175g, but as it gets older, does it get lighter as bits of plastic scrape off or does it get heavier as it accrues more dirt and mud on it?

This post was mostly written whilst listening to the latest Morrissey album.

Hat-oween - Womens Hat Tournament

Saturday 31st October see's the Leamington Lemmings Ladies host a Womens Hat Tournament in the Midlands.

It's to be hosted at Aylesford School in Warwick, home of Junior team Evolution. I had the opportunity to play at a skills day with Evolution there recently and the pitches are fantastic, with some top facilities too.

Michi, Lady Lemmings Captain

Nemo Brook, Lady Lemmings Vice-Captain, said "everyone is welcome to attend the event, particularly beginners. We wanted to host a tournament where everyone felt welcome to come along and play some Ultimate, regardless of if they've been playing for decades or haven't even picked up a disc before".

Nemo, Lady Lemmings Vice-Captain

Michi, Lady Lemmings Captain said "I'm looking forward to meeting loads of new players, and as TD I want to make sure everyone has loads of fun", she also commented that the event is "Free!".

For anyone interested in knowing more about the event, there's a Lady Lemmings Facebook group and a Facebook Event, or check out the website.

Gents, you should come along and check out the action too, plus I'll then have someone to throwabout with and have a pint with. See you there!

Forthcoming Midlands Tournaments

Looks like there are a few tournaments coming up in the Midlands that may be of interest to y'all...

Saturday 31st October 2009 - Hat-oween, Lady Lemmings Hat Tournament
http://www.freewebs.com/ladylemmings

Saturday 5th December 2009 - Thrillson's Throwabout (one of mine!)
http://www.freewebs.com/thrillson

Saturday 23rd January 2010 - LUCRE 2010, Cancer Research Fundraiser
http://www.lucretournament.co.uk

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th March 2010 - Lemmings' Luau
http://www.leamingtonlemmings.co.uk

...hope to see some of you at one of these. Come and say hi.